Holiday travelers adjust plans, take off early

by Jay Korff, Stephen Tschida

ARLINGTON, Va. (WJLA) - The skies and roads in the D.C. region are clear for now, but Tuesday into Wednesday in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast could get clobbered with freezing rain, strong winds, frigid temperatures – and even snow.

As a result, some holiday travelers are adjusting their Thanksgiving plans and taking off early.

"I am coming from Woodbridge and I am going to New York - New York City," says Belinda Fosuhene, who wants to get to the Big Apple ahead of the storm.

"I am the only one driving so it's kind of dangerous and I am a lady too, so I have to be safe."

We found some travelers who say traffic suddenly increased up and down the eastern corridor on Monday.

A storm recently pounded the Southern Plains, claiming at least a dozen lives and wreaked havoc on the holiday travel plans of millions of people.

Curtis White’s flight from Dallas to Reagan National Airport was delayed by 90 minutes.

White expects dicey driving conditions based on the forecast, and says he will be leaving on Thanksgiving day to celebrate with family.

"And if it's too confused and the roads are too messy, then will delay that a bit more," he adds.

The big fear for air travelers is if this storm impacts hub cities like New York, Newark, and Philadelphia, there could be a cascade of delays in the D.C. region during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

"I don't know if it's going to be rainy or what tomorrow, but I'll see," says Texas resident Mary Starling.

After flying into the D.C. region, Mary Starling has to turn around and drive back to Texas. She knows that schedule will now have to be flexible due to an approaching storm.

"If it seems like it's going to be difficult to drive, I'll probably stay another night and see how it is on Wednesday because I do have a little bit of flexibility with time," she says.

"Florida, South Carolina, Georgia -- a lot of people heading to this area," adds holiday traveler Linda Herrera.

The storm has yet to affect the metro area, but is already causing major problems out west and up north. A lot of airline passengers are glad they decided to book flights a couple days before Thanksgiving.

"Looks like if I had flown tomorrow I would be in a lot of trouble," says airline passenger Jesse Lovell.

But a lot of airline travelers hit some turmoil, as a quick check on flights found plenty of delays and distressed holiday travelers.

And with the weather getting even worse out west, stranded Maddie Towne and her dad have a specific worry:

"Getting stuck here for more hours and having to stay here longer," says Maddie.

The looming lousy weather has some people who planned to head out later in the week, scrambling to get on a flight early or come up with alternate modes of travel.

"We feel sorry for a lot of people who are going to get stuck -- we are actually talking with a number of people who are thinking of going from here to New York and then driving as opposed to trying to deal with the airlines," says stranded traveler Makey Towne.